(6–10) “Those who accuse their wives and have no witnesses except themselves—then one of them must bear witness four times by Allah that he is indeed truthful. * And the fifth time, that Allah’s curse be upon him if he is one of the liars. * Punishment shall be averted from her if she bears witness four times by Allah that he is indeed one of the liars. * And the fifth time, that Allah’s wrath be upon her if he is one of the truthful. * Were it not for Allah’s grace upon you and His mercy, and for the fact that Allah is Ever-Accepting of Repentance, All-Wise—”
The husband’s sworn testimonies against his wife avert the prescribed punishment from him because, ordinarily, a husband would not venture to accuse his wife—when whatever stains her also stains him—unless he were telling the truth. His own rights are also involved, including his fear that children who are not his might be attributed to him, as well as other considerations absent in the case of anyone else. Thus He says: “Those who accuse their wives,” meaning free women (1), not enslaved women.
“And have no witnesses,” to support their accusation, “except themselves”; that is, they have produced no witnesses to what they accused them of. “Then one of them must bear witness four times by Allah that he is indeed truthful.” Allah calls these statements testimony because they take the place of witnesses. The husband says, “I bear witness by Allah that I am indeed telling the truth in what I have accused her of.”
“And the fifth time, that Allah’s curse be upon him if he is one of the liars.” That is, on the fifth occasion he adds to the aforementioned testimony, reinforcing those testimonies by invoking Allah’s curse upon himself if he is lying. Once he has completed his oaths of imprecation, the prescribed punishment for making an unsubstantiated accusation is dropped from him, as is evident from the verses. Even if he names the man with whom he accused her of committing fornication, that man’s right to seek the prescribed punishment also lapses as a consequence of hers. If the husband completes his oaths but she refuses to do likewise, is the prescribed punishment imposed upon her immediately, or is she imprisoned? Scholars hold two views. The evidence indicates that the prescribed punishment is imposed upon her, based on His words, “Punishment shall be averted from her if she bears witness,” to the end of the passage. Had the punishment not become due through his oaths, her own oaths would not avert it.
“Punishment shall be averted from her” means that it is kept from her when she counters the husband’s testimonies with testimonies of the same kind:
“If she bears witness four times by Allah that he is indeed one of the liars.” On the fifth occasion, she reinforces this by invoking Allah’s wrath upon herself. Once they have both completed the mutual imprecation, they are separated forever, and the husband’s paternity of the child concerning whom the imprecation was made is denied. The apparent meaning of the verses indicates that these precise formulations are required from both husband and wife during the imprecation; that they must be made in the prescribed order; that none may be omitted or replaced with something else; and that this procedure applies specifically when a husband accuses his wife, not the reverse. A child’s resemblance carries no legal weight when mutual imprecation has taken place, just as it carries none when paternity is established by the marital bed. Resemblance is considered only when there is no other determining factor.
“Were it not for Allah’s grace upon you and His mercy, and for the fact that Allah is Ever-Accepting of Repentance, All-Wise—” The answer to this conditional statement is omitted but is indicated by the context. That is: He would have brought upon whichever spouse was lying what that spouse had invoked upon themselves. Among His mercy and grace are His establishment of this special ruling for spouses, because it is urgently needed; His making clear to you the gravity and heinousness of fornication and of accusing others of it ⦗563⦘; and His ordaining repentance from these and other major sins.